"Fox News" to go on air via Channel One MTV

"Fox News" part of the international media group owned my tycoon Rupert Murdoch has come into an agreement with the Maharaja Group to air part of their news programming via Channel One MTV. Initially the broadcast will take place for a few hours per day and will be gradually increased over time.

The entry of Fox News will certainly mean that most of the major news broadcasters in the world are available in Sri Lanka. At the moment Channel News Asia and CNN are available in Sri Lanka over FTA & pay television whereas BBC, Al Jazeera, NDTV, etc are available via pay television platforms.

We believe that Channel One MTV will use Fox News in the future to start round the clock operations. The broadcast of the "Fox News" International feed will be commencing next month.

Link : Fox News ties up with MTV/MBC in Sri Lanka

IPL on Channel One MTV

The IPL (Indian Premier League) will be telecast on Channel One MTV commencing today. This was confirmed by Chevan Daniel during the Yes FM Morning Show today. We are unable to confirm whether the match will be telecast over Shakthi TV too since the Sri Lanka tour of West Indies was telecast over Channel One & Shakthi TV.

The IPL has been causing ripples in the sport of cricket and so far only Dialog TV subscribers have been privileged enough to enjoy the matches since SET Max is available exclusively on Dialog TV. However the broadcast of the IPL matches could be much better and at times it seems that the telecast is of a cricket match taking place about twenty years ago. It is surprising that a T20 tournament involving so much money is taking place under very bad broadcasting conditions, perhaps all the money has been spent on the players. However there has been some improvement over the last two days and hopefully things get sorted out soon.

We hope that the other pay television providers secure SET Max so that their subscribers will be able to watch IPL.

Vasantham 97.6 FM

The latest Tamil Radio channel to hit the airwaves in Sri Lanka is Vasantham on 97.6 FM. Reports suggested that it will be launched today but newer reports suggest that the station will be launching tomorrow at 6:40am.

This station is to be operated by the Independant Television Network, Sri Lanka's pioneer television station who also operate Lakhanda Radio. The service will be transmitted to the Northern, Eastern & North Central Provinces. Coverage will be expanded in due course.

Indian Premier League on Pay & FTA in Sri Lanka

The Indian Premier League (IPL) that is commencing today at 6:30pm will be shown live on pay television channel "SET Max" and on FTA channels "Sirasa TV" & "Shakthi TV" in Sri Lanka. "Sirasa TV" & "Shakthi TV" will not carry all IPL matches live but will show mostly recorded/delayed versions.

"SET Max" is available exclusively on pay television platform Dialog TV in Sri Lanka.

Hiru, Sooriyan, Gold now on air

Hiru FM, Gold FM & Sooriyan FM are on air from April 15th. The transmissions commenced at 6am on the said day.

The other two channels Sha FM & Sun FM are expected commence transmissions once the frequencies are allocated during the course of this month.

ABC Network channels to resume on April 15th?

According to unconfirmed reports the ABC Network channels are expected to resume transmissions from April 15th with Sooriyan FM commencing at 6am on the same day.

We are not sure whether all the ABC Network channels will commence on the said day but it looks like Hiru & Gold may also commence on the same day. The frequencies that will be assigned is not yet clear but there is silent testing being carried out by on some frequencies.

The channels may not retain their original frequencies but overall the frequencies will be same but with the channels have had their frequencies switched. For example it is unlikely that Gold FM will retain 89.8FM & Sun FM will retain 99.9FM but some other ABC channel will be on 99.9FM.

This information is not confirmed as yet and as the days progress more information is sure to be revealed and you will definitely find it here. It not clear whether Sun FM & Sha FM will also commence transmissions on April 15th but it is highly unlikely that this will be so.

We take this opportunity to wish all our valued bloggers/readers, the Management and Staff of all all Media organisations in Sri Lanka a Peaceful, Happy & Prosperous New Year.

"Suba Aluth Awruddak Wewa"

Neo rebrands itself....

In addition to what was reported by us yesterday regarding the rebranding of Neo Sports to Neo Cricket it seems that a double rebranding has occured on the Neo channels with effect from today.

• Neo Sports re-branded as Neo Cricket.

• Neo Sports Plus re-branded as Neo Sports.

This is the first re-branding exercise adopted by the Neo Channels just over a year after its launch. Neo Cricket will be dedicated to cricket whereas Neo Sports will be showcasing all other sporting events including non English language coverage of cricket.

Neo Sports to become Neo Cricket

Neo Sports the first cricket centric channel in this region will be renamed to "Neo Cricket". This move was expected since ESPN Star Sports launched its cricket centric channel under the name "Star Cricket".

Neo Sports (soon Cricket) showcases mainly Indian domestic & international cricket matches unlike Star Cricket.

Neo channels are available in Sri Lanka on Dialog TV and LBN.

Digital Broadcasting Conference & Exhibition 2008

The first ever Broadcasting conference & exhibition will be held in Sri Lanka from June 12-14 at the BMICH.

The aim of the exhibition is to showcase the latest in broadcasting technology and the aim of the conference is to standardize the migration to digital broadcasting systems.

This is the second step towards digital migration after the initial pilot digital transmissions project jointly carried out by the Media Ministry and Dialog Telekom. We hope that this conference will be the stepping stone towards digital television/radio and realistic targets will be set for the migration of all analogue transmission systems to digital.

How successful this conference will be can be ascertained in the months after the conference and hopefully this will not be a case of all talk and no action. Certain broadcasters who are glued to analogue will come up with various excuses why this will not work but it is up to the Media Ministry & TRC to make sure that the excuses will not be main concern but a realistic pathway for the switch over. Broadcasters who are not willing to switch should told clearly that there is no other alternative.

Discovery to launch DTH specific channel in South Asia

Discovery Communications will be launching a DTH specific channel for South Asia in the near future. This was revealed during a recent press conference in India organized by Discovery Communications.

Discovery has several other channels in various regions such Discovery HD, The Learning Channel, Discovery Health, etc other than Discovery Channel, Discovery Travel & Living, Animal Planet which are the only Discovery Communication Channels available in South Asia.

Hiru FM, Gold FM, Sooriyan FM issued with frequencies

In latest developments the Asian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC Networks) has been issued with frequencies for Hiru, Gold & Sooriyan FM by the TRC with effect from yesterday. All the five channels including Sha FM & Sun FM have been issued broadcasting licenses last month. Sha & Sun FM are expected to be issued with frequencies soon.

There is a chance that all the stations would commence broadcasting together but there is no specific launch date as yet. The channels may have been reassigned their original frequencies since but we are unable to confirm this.

Link : Sri Lanka's ABC radio to get back on air: official - LBO Monday 08th April 2008

Sri Lanka's first pay television channel is referred to as "crap"

Sri Lanka's first pay television channel "CiTi HiTz" which is exclusively available on Dialog TV has been referred to as "crap" by subscribers. The channel has only broadcast old stale teledrama's during the period that it was available free of charge and little or no movies at all. Many subscribers are disconnecting "CiTi HiTz" from their lineup since they are of the view that it is not worth the Rs 50/= monthly that they have to pay in addition to keep the channel activated.

If the trend continues the first pay television channel in Sri Lanka would have to wind up operations unless something drastic is done to improve the quality of the channel. If the quality of this channel is improved then it could be beamed to Sri Lankan expatriates who will willingly pay to view this channel.

If "CiTi HiTz" is to improve it should get itself onto other local pay television networks which is only likely after its exclusive distribution deal with Dialog TV expires. Another notable way of improving this channel is to reduce subscription rates and if it is expensive to run the channel then limited advertising should be accomodated.

However Sri Lanka's second pay television channel and the first local language music channel "Channel C" seems to be riding a wave of success and it is getting some positive reviews. So it may be a case of "Channel C" drowning out "CiTi HiTz" and only time will tell. So far the management of "CiTi HiTz" are not at all professional in the way the channel is being handled and if no action is taken then they may not have a channel to handle.

Fox to officially enter South Asian region

Fox Network has sought permission from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting seeking downlinking rights for six of it's channels namely "Fox Crime", "Baby TV", "FX", "Nat Geo Adventure", "Nat Geo Wild", "Nat Geo Music". Out of the mentioned channels one namely "Nat Geo Adventure" is already available in Sri Lanka and the others are slated to come aboard pay television networks such as Dialog TV.

Fox is targeting digital platforms such as IPTV, DTH, Digital Cable in order to launch these channels.

According to their target in addition to Dialog TV, the LBN digital service and SLT IPTV could also secure these channels.

Fox applies to MIB for six channels